Discussion

I found a lot of differences between the American students and French students in the responses for the United States. Many of the American responses focus on the ideals of the US, such as freedom, liberty, rights, and home. However, the French responses focus on our government and major cities and tourist sites.

Many French students responded with Obama. What is your opinion of Obama? Do you view the American government in a more positive or negative manner since his election? Also, a lot of French students mentioned America's economic and global power. Do you view this power as a negative thing? Is America too powerful?

I definitely agree with both of you that Obama's election is a step in the right direction for America. We have certainly been weakened in the past several years by poor leadership to say the least. I do still view America as a powerful nation, and given how intently the rest of the world watched our elections, our country's government is certainly influential. That said, overcoming the financial crisis as well as restoring good relationships with the rest of the world are difficult feats that Obama is faced with. However, I feel much better knowing that he is the one facing them than the people who were previously in power.

I see that you guys are very aware of America's politics, especially the presidency. How does America's politics and decisions affect you?

There are many Americans who were not happy with the Bush administration. Many of us view the War in Iraq as a disaster and something that should have never occurred/ occured on false pretenses. That, along with the fact that Bush represented America very poorly are only a couple of reasons for dissatisfaction.

In my eyes and if I'm not mistaken the eyes of many people around the world, the election of Obama is a fresh start for America. My hopes are for Obama to restore a positive image of America throughtout the world. I also hope he can help improve the education system in America (Bush's No Child Left Behind Act did little to improve things), make healthcare more accessible, as well as provide jobs for the many people who have been layed off due to the financial crisis. As some of you have said, only time will tell what will happen, but my hopes are that Obama can make a change for the better.

I'm not sure how Americans view French politics. I don't think most of us are very aware of things going on in France. I admit that I am not very familiar with French politics.

One of the things that shocked me when I moved from Spain to the US almost six years ago is how little attention European politics get from the American media, compared with how much importance European media give to US politics. My guess is that most Americans don't follow French politics at all, and they would at most know the name of the current French president. Personally, I don't follow French poilitics much, but I followed the last presidential election a little through "The Economist", a British magazine about world affairs that is quite reputed in the US. "The Economist" has a liberal viewpoint, and as such it openly simpathized with Sarkozy's campaign. My guess is that the reforms that Sarkozy promised during his campaign must have resonated well with the ideas of most Americans that followed the election.

Like David, I have been surprised at how little attention Americans pay to what happens in other countries compared to how much other countries know about the US, politics and otherwise. It seems that US media only broadcasts international news if it is important to the US in some way--if it will affect American politics or the economy, for example. The news stations here will occasionally broadcast foreign news channels, but usually only during something like a severe natural disaster or an election that may affect US relations with a country. I am curious, though--is it only US politics that you follow? Or do you also follow the news of other countries?

I agree that our media here seems to focus on domenstic news. Even though we have many 24 hour television news channels, I don't think any of them make good use of the time to report on international issues, such as election and governmental decisions in other countries. I, personally, like to get my news from online newspapers, where I can read a variety of opinions and perspectives. However, I know many Americans just listen to what is reported on TV.

As such, I don't think many Americans followed the French elections and possibly don't even recognize the name Sarkozy.

I would agree with the others that many Americans don't follow news of other countries. I actually think that this can be considered to be a major problem. I don't know how Americans can be expected to emphasize with other countries' situations if they don't even follow the news. The major news stations like CNN, I've found, tend to spend hours and hours every day talking about things that might get their ratings up--like talking about kidnapping, murders, etc., especially of very famous people--but might never get around to mentioning a crisis in Europe, let alone Africa or South America.

MIT students in general I think also have a problem getting news, as we're so busy; but all of my friends and I do get news from online, and I think that students in general tend to be more aware of international issues.

It's interesting that everyone in other countries knows a great deal about Obama, but personally I know very little about foreign presidents, even Sarkozy.